'Because the liquor is worth more to the government than beer or wine. Uncle Sam takes an excise tax of $2.14 for each 750-milliliter bottle of 80-proof spirits, compared with 21 cents for a bottle of wine (of 14 percent alcohol or less) and 5 cents for a can of beer. No one knows exactly how much money changes hands in the moonshine trade, but it's certainly enough for the missing taxes to make a difference: In 2000, an ATF investigation busted one Virginia store that sold enough raw materials to moonshiners to make 1.4 million gallons of liquor, worth an estimated $19.6 million in lost government revenue. In 2005, almost $5 billion of federal excise taxes on alcohol came from legally produced spirits.'
Taste has nothing to do with it. These people want to get blind drunk that drink this.
When I was 16—a long time ago, we would get a gallon glass pickle jar, fill it with ice, half a quart of shine, and fill it with orange juice. Drank it from the jug, passed it around. Go to the Church dances and have a great time. Life was simpler then.
May I point out that the tax on distilled spirits was enacted in 1863 at the behest of one Abraham Lincoln? That tax is still with us. I offer it as a plain demonstration of the tyranny of one Abraham Lincoln!
Out of HS, I worked in a factory in Connecticut. A black guy nearing retirement from Mississippi spoke reverently of “scrap iron”. He told me Federal liquor had coloring and other additives and not to drink it. His relatives sent him shipments of the good stuff from down south.
Any time I think of monnshine I always remember Andy Griffith’s character, Will Stockdale, being taken to the club to get him drunk in “No Time For Sergeants.”
The other is Granny and her moonshine from the “Beverly Hillbillies.” It was strong enough to power Jethro’s rocket that he planned to take him to the Moon.
I once had a dog that was pungently fragrant. Liked to chew on my slippers, too. Izzat the same? :-)
I'm acquainted with a few people who know a thing or two about the moonshine trade. I'll ask them if their product is "pungently fragrant with a chewy sweetness" and see how loud they laugh. Will report back to FR on the matter.
Bump for later